CODE Method is Tiago Forte's four-step process for turning information into ideas a person can share: Capture, Organize, Distill and Express.
Forte describes the stages as capturing information from the outside world, organizing it so it can be found and used easily, distilling it down to the best ideas, and expressing those ideas in one's own voice through writing, speaking, designing or teaching. It is the process taught in 📝Building a Second Brain (BASB), his approach to 📝Personal Knowledge Management built around an external 📝Second Brain.
In a July 2022 op-ed for CNBC, Forte wrote, "I call it the 'CODE' method: Capture, Organize, Distill, Express." The piece sets a filter for capture: keep only material that is inspiring, useful, personal or surprising. Organizing means filing each saved note into one of four categories, projects, areas, resources or archives, the structure Forte names the 📝PARA Method. Distilling condenses each note to its essence, and expressing means sharing one's own ideas, story and knowledge with others.
📝Thought Distillation, a process named by Brian Swichkow, describes a related loop of capture, structuring, refinement and harvesting.